


Mandriel Drabbles

by Claudia_Lilith



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: I love this ship and there just, It's Domestic and cute, M/M, Multi, isn't anything that's actually all three of them here?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-02-09 01:38:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claudia_Lilith/pseuds/Claudia_Lilith
Summary: The life of Matt Andrew and Neil. As imagined by me.





	1. Neil is Content

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. Here's some Mandriel. Please enjoy.

Sometimes Neil wonders how he reached this point. When running and fear and pain melted into us and stay. It seems almost too good to be true. 

After waking up to content and warmth and the feeling of security between two bodies, and flopping back to stare idly at the two people he would, had, killed for in the past. Matt’s arm curled around him, grounding and secure with Andrew facing him from the other side of the bed. Hand outstretched across the sheets only to glare sleepily up as Neil extracted himself from their warmth to get ready for his morning run. 

Neil paused as he got out, looking questioningly down at Andrew, and receiving a muttered “yes” before he dusted a kiss across Andrews forehead and stooping to kiss Matt’s check. Pulling on his leggings and running shoes absentmindedly watching Andrew scoot into Matt’s warmth. It all seemed too good to be true somedays, this lazy warmth, casual comfort. The picture completed further by King jumping onto the bed to curl up by their feet. 

It was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want a specific thing for Mandriel my tumblr is Claudia-Lilith2 just send me prompts.


	2. Couch Cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Fluff for my Mandirel.

The Trojans were up four points in the second quarter, they were playing against the Bobcats in a death match. The announcers voice excitedly chatted on about player statistics that Neil was only half paying attention to from his position in the couch sprawl. 

Matt was running a hand through his auburn curls, catching knots and working them out slowly, eyes fixed on the screen, his other hand loosely resting on Andrew’s calf where he had maneuvered his feet under Matt’s legs. Andrew, for the most part has wedged himself into the corner of the couch reading after muttering about, “A fucking junkie and his dealer.” 

“What does that make you then?” Neil had teased, smirking up at Andrew, head resting in Matt’s lap, curled up into a comfortable ball. 

“A fucking masochist clearly.” Andrews apathetic stare didn’t stop Matt’s laughter.

Neil was drifting, Matt’s ministrations relaxing him further. He fell asleep to the sound of an exy buzzer and the murmured conversation between Matt and Andrew about the book he was reading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you guys like this I love it so much. Claudia-Lilith2 is me if you want to send prompts.


	3. King Fluffkins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil finds a cat

Neil hated running in the rain. He had been so certain that it wouldn’t hit for a few more hours, just enough time for a morning run. It didn’t really come as a surprise when the storm hit midway through his normal route. 

He was soaked through to the bone, teeth chattering with the mixture of November rain and wind. Neil’s hands felt frozen, so cold he could barely stand to clench fingers into fists. In the relative shelter of a nearby overhang he stopped for breath. Hoping to escape some of the force of the storm when he heard it. 

A small meow chirping out of a damp cardboard box near the wall, further inspection revealed a single kitten, shaking with the cold and curled up into the corner of the box. Little yellow eyes blinked up at him as the cat cried out again. 

“Hi sweetie, you tiny little fucker why are you out here alone?” Neil coo’s as he scoops up the little tabby kitten. Holding it up to eye level before curling it into his chest and pulling out his phone which is, miraculously enough, at half charge. It doesn’t take more than a couple of seconds to call Andrew, but he’s now super-focused on the cold and how it must be affecting the tiny kitten in his arms.

It takes four rings before Andrew answers. A sleepy “Neil?” and the soft sounds of Andrew sitting up and shifting out of bed. 

“Come get me?” Neil stares down at the kitten who is nosing into the space between his shirt and his jacket.

“It’s raining.” 

“3rd and Reddvin. Can you bring some towels?” The only response Neil gets is the click of the phone as Andrew hangs up on him. Neil’s smile is soft as he looks down at his new furry friend. 

“Give him ten minutes and we’ll have you bundled up all warm and cozy.” Neil scratched in-between the tabby’s ears and curled up into a ball against the wall to wait for Andrew. It only took six minutes before Andrew pulled up in front of them. Neil opened the door and pushed the kitten inside on the towels draped over the passenger seat. Wrapping it up in the towel handing off the headrest before climbing in and curling up around the cat again. Only now becoming aware of the fine tremors moving through his body and the slight chatter of teeth now that he was in proximity to a heater.

“What is that.” Andrew stared at the bundle of towel and fur meowing in Neil’s arms blankly. Eyes narrowing slightly at the wide grin Neil throws his way. 

“The newest addition to our family!” Neil’s smile dims the slightest for a moment before he hesitantly adds, “I mean, if you’re okay with it.” Andrew doesn’t look back over at Neil when he pulls back onto the road muttering under his breath about how Matt was going to name it something stupid. 

Neil couldn’t stop his smile as he alternated between watching Andrew drive and soothing the kitten still curled in his arms. 

The race through the rain up to their apartment takes a solid seven seconds, seven seconds where the kitten wails helplessly in his hold and Andrew mutters about taking in more strays. 

When Neil gets up to the apartment he shares with Matt and Andrew the first thing he notices is Matt cooking something that smells suspiciously like bacon. As Matt goes to throw out a greeting Neil rushes by to unwrap the kitten on the couch, kneeling on the ground next to it before carefully inspecting the small animal now that they’re somewhere warm and dry. 

The three things Neil learns first is that their new cat is most definitely a he, that he is uninjured, and that he really loves belly pets. In the time it took him to deduce these things Matt has finished the bacon and come to inspect Neil’s new find, kneeling behind him, and wrapping long arms around his smaller boyfriend Matt rests his head on top of Neil’s and looks down at the kitten. 

Andrew is sitting on the couch now, picking up the cat and playing it on his lap blank faced as his boyfriends both coo over Neil’s find. 

“We’ll need to take him to the vet this afternoon.” Neil smiles up at Andrew, who looks vaguely alarmed when the kitten tries to escape the confines of his lap. 

“We’re getting rid of it?” Andrew asks, clearly unimpressed with the idea. Matt pulls Neil closer and grins up Andrew, shaking his head.

“Of course not!”

Neil snaps a picture of the cat and sends it to the Fox group text asking for name idea’s. 

 

Andrew thinks King Fluffkins is a stupid name.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claudia-Lilith2 is my tumblr i'm having issues thinking of fluff help please


	4. A Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt is playing a game against Neil and Andrew. Jeremy is displeased by the results.

Matt liked knowing where he stood. Liked the solid reality of a day to day schedule. The thrill of making it onto a professional EXY team marred by the fact that the men he loved were on separate teams from him. It was one thing to convince Andrews team to swap for Neil, he was a rising star in the EXY world. The load mouthed striker with talent to back up the trouble. It was another thing entirely to try and convince them to bring in a back liner who had spent three years on a set team. 

“Matt!” Jeremy called him over. They were playing against the Stags tonight, playing against Neil and Andrew. Matt really didn’t hold much hope out for his Jaguars. Honestly Matt was more excited about seeing his boyfriends face to face for the first time in three months than for the actual game itself. 

“You’re Neil’s mark. You understand how he plays better than me.” Matt gawped at Jeremy, a moment of confusion before laughter welled up. This was going to be amazing. 

It was a home game on their team, and they were going to lose. It was the third game of the season, and they had just finished getting dressed when Jeremy called Matt over. Jeremy squinted at Matt’s reaction.

“This is serious, we’re going to have to play hard to get past Minyard and you’ve spent the most time observing their playing styles.” Jeremy scolded as they walked out onto the court to warm up. The roar of the crowd faded into static noise when Matt saw Neil and Andrew stretching out across the court. Neil was smirking over at Andrew, balancing with a hand on Andrews shoulder and laughing. Andrew looked on in exasperation as Neil took a few steps away to glance over at the Jaguars. Smirk evening out into a smile when he caught sight of Matt. 

Neil waved when Matt and Jeremy passed by, calling out a good luck in Jeremy’s direction. Andrew flicked a two-finger salute in his direction, gaze heated and full of promises of later. They had a plan for after the game, the Stags weren’t leaving until tomorrow afternoon, and Neil and Andrew were going to stay at Matt’s temporary apartment overnight. It was basically a miracle at this point that no one had managed to figure out the nature of their relationship with how little Neil and Matt held back in public. 

The players took their positions, Matt across from Neil. The brief looked of pleased surprise that flitted across his face amused Matt to no end. Only Neil would think playing against Matt would make the game more enjoyable. Matt knew then beyond a shadow of a doubt the Jaguars were going to lose.

Also that if he didn’t give his all in this game Neil would never forgive him. 

The game passed in a blur. All of Matt narrowed down the burn in this thighs from trying to keep up with Neil, the sharp pain in his side where Neil turned his check onto him, rolling under and tripping Matt into the wall. The throbbing of his heartbeat and the pain as his lungs gasped in air. 

It was worth it to see the look on Neils face, and the vaguely adoring expression Andrew threw their way after he stormed into the showers to avoid the press. Jeremy was upset, but clearly resigned. Matt didn’t have the heart to tell them that as long as he was on this team Andrew would always play, in his stint in the goal during the first half he didn’t let a single goal in. 

If he spent the better part of an hour later that night kissing Neil to get him to shut about Exy that was his business, and if he fell asleep with the taste of Andrew in his mouth and his arms strewn across Neil, watching the way Andrew’s chest rose with each breath, well it made up for the distance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was only slightly drunk when I wrote this. Claudia-Lilith2 is my tumblr is you want a specific fluff thing, or non-fluff thing. Tell me what Mandriel you desire


	5. Happy Birthday Neil Josten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neil wakes up and loves his boyfriends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm slightly drunk again, sorry for the incoherence.

The sun streamed through the closed curtains, a slice of brilliant gold fading onto soft yellows that eventually sliced across Neils eyes. He squinted into the harsh light of day, curled up on his side, facing the empty patch of bed Matt normally accompanied.A warm slutch of blanket belied his recent travel, one in which Neil curled ever so slightly closer to until he really relaxed into a state of full consciousness. The slight dip to his left alerted him to the other presence behind him. Neil rolled over, the soft drag of cotton reaching across his skin a smooth slide of fabric wrapped around him in a comforting embrace. 

Andrew lounged against the backboard of their bed, book in hand and staring down into the middle distance. Neil shifted over to rest in his warmth, the area just inches shy of touch sharing in the space while Andrew stared down at the book in his hand, never turning the page. It was the perfect morning. 

If Neil really focused he could hear the sound of Matt humming out the bedroom door of their shared apartment. Andrew casually threw an arm around the back of Neil’s pillow, hand pausing just a hair’s breadth away before a murmured “Yes or no” echoed into the space between them as Andrew wound his fingers through Neil’s auburn hair. The smell and sound of cooking interspersed with Matt’s off-tune cover of “I will Always Love You” soaked through his skin, settled into the empty sections of his souls, a smooth stretch of sunshine forever outside his immedient reach burrowing into the darkness for just a moment. 

Andrew froze for a moment before reaching out into the dead air beside the bed and dropping the book with a clunk onto the floor. 

“178%” Before Neil could come up with a reply Andrew was off the bed and off the door. 

It took Neil a few minutes to pull himself out of the warmth his boyfriends left behind. A soft hum under his skin as the warmth of the bed transferred into the cool of the morning chill. The smell of pancakes and sausage welcoming him into another year. 

It taken a while for Matt to convince him to sleep in today, ultimately it had been Andrew who had sealed Neil’s fate this morning. With a deadpanned, “I don’t care what you do dumb-ass.” belied by an extra cigarette the morning in was solidified. 

Matt scooped an arm around Neil’s waist, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. He held a plate laden with what appeared to be blueberry pancakes away from their bodies as he tucked Neil into the crook underneath his chin. Matt passed the plate smoothly into hands before pressing a soft kiss into Neil’s curls.   
The stack in Neil’s hand had a single candle sticking out. No one said anything but that was fine.

Neil Josten was another year older, and he had never felt more content.


	6. Meet the Folks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt wants to introduce his boyfriends to his mom

“I want to introduce you guys to my mom.”

Andrews “No” overlapped with Neil’s “But she’s met us?” Andrew had already walked out the door before Matt could explain what he meant to Neil. The sound of the door slamming echoed around their shared apartment. 

Matt reached out for Neils hands, thumb gently rubbing over Neil’s knuckles as he smiled tentatively down at their joined hands. The echo of the door and Andrew’s refusal echoing in his head over and over again. “I want to tell her we’re together.” Matt’s tentative smile dropped at the same time that Neil’s expression closed. 

Neil glanced over at the closed front door before slowly pulling his hands away. “I don’t know Matt.” Neil tucked his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and fiddled with a loose thread as he looked down at his feet. 

“Maybe we can talk about it more when Andrew gets back?” Matt tried, hands still outstretched into the space between them. “I mean, I know it’s not the most conventional relationship but it’s-”

“Your mom.” Neil interjected, nodding quietly to himself. “But what if she disapproves?” Matt reached out and grabbed Neil’s shoulders, smiling reassuringly down at his boyfriend. 

“She won’t,” He said with complete confidence, “But if she does she’ll get used to it. I want the people closest to us to know we’re together, I want to be able to tell my mom about you guys and have family dinners on holidays.” 

Neil licked his lip and shrugged Matt’s hands off, backing up a few feet for space. “Can I think about it?” Matt frowned, half in irritation and half in worry. Something in Neil’s eyes had flattened out, a smooth blankness Matt didn’t recognize. 

“Of course, Andrew is clearly already taking his thinking time.” Neil nodded once more before retreating into the bathroom, the click of the lock behind him echoed once more through the apartment. Matt huffed out a sigh as he dragged a hand down his face, palm resting over his eyes as he tilted back his head. He just didn’t understand. They were together, they didn’t have anything to fear, and if it weren't for their EXY careers he liked to think they would be open in their relationship with the people who mattered to them. 

*****

It had been a few months since Andrew had found his way onto the roof of their apartment complex. Their apartment was seven stories tall, and tucked into a city block illuminated by streetlights just past their prime. 

It had just slipped out. Neil had frozen like the rabbit he was the moment Matt brought the visit up, and if Neil wasn’t ready for that pushing the matter could only end in resentment. There was no compromise immediately obvious where his giants face didn't fall and his runner didn’t twitch towards the door the moment he started to feel just a bit too real. 

He flicked the embers of the end of his half-smoked cigarette and watched the wind catch them. Three stories below him Matt was probably cuddling on the couch with a horrendously named grey cat their runner found in a back-alley while said runner was either racing out for a three hour run or locked in a room trying to talk himself out of running. 

They’d been together for six years. Together. Three years of not dating followed by one where they could be classified as a thing. The fact that Matt had waited six years to suggest they come out to his mother was probably a miracle. 

It was long past time for Neil to become a real boy.

*****

The water was just this side of too cold. The shakes had settled in, from the tips of his fingers to the ends of his toes. Each breath shook and burned it’s way into a rapidly tightening throat. Neil had built a family for himself, each brick laid over the rubble of ruin that used to be Nathaniel Wesneski. Matt wanted to include him in another section of family he’d never considered he could be apart of. 

Aaron and Nickey were Andrew’s family. Woven in the same fabric that Neil had patched together in his life as the others. Matt’s mother was a whole different situation. He had never met her, the only chance he might have had of meeting her spoiled by the black hole of Evermore. 

He vaguely heard a murmured conversation through the bathroom door. Just enough to drift through his panicked brain. Just enough to register that Andrew had returned before a sharp knock warned rang through the bathroom. 

A familiar grounding hand wrapped around the back of his neck, “Hey rabbit ready to be Pinocchio?” 

Neil stared up at Andrew’s familiar brown before glancing over at his shoulder to Matt, who stood stiff in the doorway. Neil focused back on Andrew instead of the hurt on Matt’s face.

“What?”

“Time to be a real boy.” Andrews face didn’t flicker. Matt took a hesitant step towards them.

“Neil we love you, and my mom is an important part of my family, it’s been six years. I want you to become a part of that family.I just-” Matt broke off as he buried his hands in his hair. “I just think she’d love you guys so much, and she’s such a large part of my life, I’m tired of keeping secrets from her.” 

The grip on the back of his neck tightened ever so slightly as Neil thought it over in his head. “Yes or No?” Andrew didn’t hesitate to say yes.

Neil looked up at at Matt and smiled hesitantly, “So when are we going to New York?”

He’d do anything to see that look on Matt’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. Remember if you have any requests just message me, my Tumblr is Claudia_Lilith2.0, have this rarepair

**Author's Note:**

> It's hella short but it's something okay.


End file.
